“During a lecture Suzuki Roshi had said that life was impossible.
‘If it’s impossible, how can we do it?’ a student asked.
‘You do it every day,’ Suzuki answered.”¹

I discovered Shunryu Suzuki and mindfulness in May 2002, oddly enough at my father’s funeral Mass. I sat in the front row and listened, my interest piqued, as the priest told a story that went something like this:

When a person dies, they prepare by giving everything they have away. When it’s time to go, the dying person embarks on a sailboat that sails away until it slips below the horizon. We are on the shore watching them go, until we simply don’t see the boat any longer — but the boat is there. The boat doesn’t cease to exist. It is just on its way to its new destination.

The priest attributed the story to a Buddhist monk named Shunryu Suzuki. It was such an unusual story for a priest to tell that I had to find out more about this monk. I discovered the biography of Shunryu Suzuki, Crooked Cucumber, authored by David Chadwick, and read it off and on throughout the following summer.

I learned about this man from Japan who grew up poor and followed his father’s example to become a priest. Suzuki became close to Westerners living in Japan and won them over, helping them to understand and respect his way of living. This led him to emigrate to the United States, establish a following and ultimately found Tassajara, his Buddhist monastery in San Francisco. The story set me on a path to finding out more about mindfulness and learning about breathing and meditation.

Mindfulness seems to be much more widespread and embraced throughout our culture today than it was when I was first introduced to it. Even in the pages of the Bar Journal, you can read monthly articles on “Practicing Wellness.” The guidance in these columns reminds us how important it is to take time for yourself, and how meditation can reduce or prevent the increasingly scary trends prevalent in our legal professional community.

As lawyers, we are disproportionately affected by problem drinking, anxiety, depression, and stress. Compared to other professions, lawyers are also at a higher risk of suicide. I stopped to think of colleagues I have known who have lost their life to substance abuse and/or suicide, and I counted five people without blinking.

It’s crucial that we stop thinking we are deficient or defective if we experience problems with substance abuse or our mental health. Alternatively, we must start to think holistically about our experiences, and strive to thrive. It is time for us to really strive to be the best people we can be by committing to our mental, emotional, and physical health.

As the new year rang in, some good lawyer friends of mine invited me to participate in a wellness challenge. The goal is to do something every day that promotes health and well being in our lives. It could be rest, reading, exercise, prayer, attending a seminar, taking a vacation, whatever it is that will enhance our outlook and overall health. Participation also required that we agree to journal our individual efforts, so that we can look back at the end of the year and assess what strides we made and celebrate our successes.

Of course, I accepted the challenge. I started off this endeavor with great enthusiasm for goals to read more, get some exercise, eat healthy, and prioritize rest. Meri and I enthusiastically went through some of our favorite vegetarian cookbooks at home, planned out some different meals, and set an intention to hike some parks in the area that we haven’t visited yet. It has enhanced our time together at home.

Now with March upon us, the pace and dedication to this approach is slipping, just a little. I am reminded, though, to be mindful about that, too. It is not the end of the world that my enthusiasm isn’t quite as fevered. My lawyer friends check in with texts of encouragement, and Meri also reminds me to keep it all in perspective. I will get back at it, and I will keep going. It’s what mindfulness is all about. It’s what life is all about.

Protecting our mental, emotional, and physical health sometimes requires additional support outside of our friends and family. I also know that there are times that people outside of the legal community simply don’t understand our pressures and the demands of our work. If you are feeling alone and are dealing with difficulties, I remind you that you can always seek confidential referrals for support through the State Bar of Michigan’s Lawyers and Judges Assistance Program. LJAP also offers convenient virtual support group sessions on Wednesday nights. These online sessions are wholly confidential and facilitated by an LJAP clinical case manager. Find more information on LJAP and its programs at michbar.org/ljap.

Whatever path you choose, I hope that you incorporate some steps to find a way to not just plod through your day-to-day routines, but instead choose to really enjoy life and thrive. I encourage you to strive to feel more engaged and more fulfilled in your practice and in life. The Bar is here to help, and the profession is looking for ways to help even more. Stay tuned. Breathe in, breathe out. Be in the here and now. I’m rooting for you.

The views expressed in From the President, as well as other expressions of opinions published in the Bar Journal from time to time, do not necessarily state or reflect the official position of the State Bar of Michigan, nor does their publication constitute an endorsement of the views expressed. They are the opinions of the authors and are intended not to end discussion, but to stimulate thought about significant issues affecting the legal profession, the making of laws, and the adjudication of disputes.